Holmboe fans are fortunate to have a fairly wide
selection of the composer’s oeuvre on record. This is thanks
to the tireless advocacy of Dacapo and BIS. The latter’s 6-CD
box of the symphonies - available for the price of four - is particularly
desirable, as much for the cost savings as the quality of the recordings
and performances. This Dacapo disc of concertos is particularly welcome,
as these works don’t appear to be available elsewhere. Factor
in Dacapo’s expertise when it comes to SACD - I’m delighted
they still have faith in Super Audio - and this looks like a very tempting
release indeed.

The Viola Concerto, a late work, was written for the Israeli
violist Rivka Golani. It’s played here by the Norwegian Lars Anders
Tomter, who has put together a relatively small but solid discography
across several labels. So, the auguries for this concerto are promising,
although newcomers may be temporarily stunned by the pounding start
to the piece. Goodness, what a big, brawny sound this is, and how energetic
for a composer in his twilight years. The viola part is warm and lyrical,
and the soloist - forwardly balanced - is easily heard above the occasional
tumult.

Holmboe’s dancing rhythms - delicate on the viola, foot-stomping
in the orchestra - make for a thrilling counterpoint, but it’s
the glorious solo writing that lodges firmly in one’s musical
memory. As for Tomter’s playing I can’t imagine a more beguiling
or generously pitched performance of the concerto than this; his full,
well-rounded tone - especially in the wistful moments of the second
movement - is a joy to hear. Both he and the orchestra - the latter’s
spring-heeled outbursts sparingly deployed - are superbly caught by
the Dacapo team.

What a virile piece this is, and how varied and interesting. There’s
absolutely no sign here of a composer bereft of ideas or tired of living
and, sensing that, everyone plays their hearts out. These qualities
are repeated in the much earlier Concerto for Orchestra, a clear-eyed
and trenchant take on the neo-classical fashion of the time. The work’s
Hindemithian breadth and weight are unmistakable - Mathis, anyone?
- but intertwined with this is writing of surpassing loveliness and
lift. These antinomies, an integral aspect of this composer’s
craft, are brought to the fore in a reading of strength and high colour.

Erik Heide, the soloist in the sometimes quirky Violin Concerto No.
2, is also new to me, but as with the other artists on this disc
he plays with great assurance and style. Listeners will need to recalibrate
their ears after hearing Tomter’s honeyed tones, but that’s
not to suggest Heide’s tone is remotely bright or scrawny. The
piece does strike me as a tad cerebral though - it’s tautly conceived
and rigorously argued - but that doesn’t mean it’s without
flights of fancy, especially in the Korngoldian Adagio affettuoso.
Conductor Dmitri Slobodeniouk doesn’t hold back, and the Norrköping
players respond with alacrity to his extrovert direction.

The best hybrids offer exemplary Red Book and Super Audio layers, and
this Dacapo release is no exception. Both are full-blooded and wonderfully
nuanced, so even those with humble CD players won’t feel short-changed.
Jens Cornelius’s liner-notes aren’t perhaps as analytical
as some, but his enthusiasm for this music is certainly infectious.
Otherwise, the usual high production values of the house prevail.